To read the full text of the podcast and the links to thequoted materials, please see:
https://erm76.substack.com/p/for-the-want-of-a-nail-trump-charles
In this podcast, we’re going to analyze some of the TrumpAdministration’s actions when measured against two of the key statements made in the King Charles speech to Congress. These range from references to ties between the US, UK and NATO to the twin concepts of the rule of law and an impartial judiciary. The latter are particularly important to any livingdemocracy. But unlike Charles’ soft-diplomatic approach, we’re going to take a hard look at the Trump Administration and its actions.
1. In our reality, President Trump has stated on numerousoccasions that NATO has never helped the United States. This isn’t true. NATO allies responded after the USA was attacked on 9/11. Trump also denigrated the lives of allied soldiers who died in support of the US mission, and he threatened to use force to take Greenland.
2. The importance of the rule of law and an independentjudiciary are covered. But the Trump Administration has not supported this ideal in practice. For example, it filed a number of emergency applications with the Supreme Court challenging rulings impeding its policies. And in the majority of cases, the Court agreed with the Administration, which hasultimately increased the power of the executive office. Further, some of the Trump Administration’s decisions are wrapped in racism, such as the attempt to cancel the TPS program for, in one example, Haitians living in the US.
And finally, when I finished the podcast, I thought, howcould one man cause so much damage? We’ve dealt with corruption before, as is the case with Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon. But neither person so affected the country and the world.
But I think I found a partial answer to my question. It’s the essence of an old poem,
For Want of a Nail.
For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.
For you see, President Trump is the one who pulled the nailfrom the horse’s shoe.
Notes:
* “For the Want of a nail the shoe was lost,” ascribed toBenjamin Franklin, Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/626466-for-the-want-of-a-nail-the-shoe-was-lost
** The US is considered a Constitutional Republic, but theterm democracy or representative democracy, also applies.
*** The famous line from the Dumas book is: “All for one,and one for all;” “Tous pour un, un pour tous.”
**** The current Yankees team is in a similar slump. Theylast won the Series in 2009.